EU's Borrell slams bloc’s members for taking too long to rap Israel's attacks on UNIFIL
The European Union member states have taken too long to condemn Israel's attacks on the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says, as he slammed the attacks as "completely unacceptable."
"We should be against Israeli attacks against UNIFIL. Our soldiers are there, many soldiers are there," Borrell said at an EU ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
Sixteen EU countries, led by Italy, France and Spain, are contributing to the UN peacekeeping force, which is made up of about 10,000 peacekeeping troops and other personnel, in southern Lebanon.
Five peacekeepers have so far been injured in a series of attacks by Israeli forces that have hit the mission in recent days.
"Such attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable. These attacks must stop immediately," Borrell said in a statement on behalf of the EU published Sunday night.
The bloc expresses “particularly grave concern” regarding the attacks by the Israeli forces against UNIFIL, which left several peacekeepers wounded, he added.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the UN peacekeepers were providing "human shields" for Hezbollah.
In his statement, Borrell said "all actors" in the conflict have the obligation to ensure the safety and security of UN missions.
"We urgently await explanations and a thorough investigation from the Israeli authorities about the attacks against UNIFIL, which plays a fundamental role in the stability of south Lebanon," he said.
Israel has been targeting Lebanon since October 2023, when it launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah has been responding to the aggression with numerous retaliatory operations, including one with a hypersonic ballistic missile, targeting the occupied Palestinian territories.
Since late September, Israel has escalated its strikes against Hezbollah, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and a number of its senior figures.
At least 2,306 people have been killed by Israeli fire, and more than 10,698 others wounded since the clashes began last year, according to the health ministry.
The Lebanese resistance movement has vowed to keep up its operations against Israel as long as the Israeli regime continues its Gaza war, which has so far killed at least 42,227 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
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